He said he tried to foul Drummond, but by the time he got to the 6-foot-11, 285-pound rookie, he had already passed the ball.

As per NBA rules, teams can't foul players off the ball with under 2 minutes to play. Thus, the Pistons got two free throws and the ball out of bounds. They also got to pick who shot the free throws -- and they chose 79-percent shooter Rodney Stuckey.

"I tried to foul right away," Thompson said. "They didn't see it until after he passed the ball. Maybe I should have told them I was going to foul him."

Stuckey split the two free throws, which extended the Pistons' lead to 106-103. After they took the ball out of bounds, forward Jonas Jerebko followed with another free throw with 16.8 seconds left for a four-point advantage.

It was too much to overcome for the Cavs, who have now lost two in a row.

Cavs coach Byron Scott said they told the players to foul the man with the ball. He called Thompson's mental lapse a "mistake."

"He felt he had the ball," Scott said. "He was thinking right, but was way too late."

The Cavs decided to hack Drummond in the fourth quarter. He's just a 34.4-percent foul shooter. He foiled their plan, though, by making 8 of 14 from the line in the fourth.

The Pistons' frontcourt of Drummond and power forward Greg Monroe abused the Cavs with 52 points and 19 rebounds. Drummond finished with a career-high 29 points and 11 rebounds. He also converted 10 of 11 shots from the floor, most on dunks. He ended 9 of 17 from the line.

"I was thinking about it this morning knowing what he shot from the line," Scott said. "We wanted to throw a little bit of a wrinkle at them if he shot his percentage."

The Pistons (27-52) have beaten the Cavs six consecutive times, including 4-0 sweep this season.

Irving paced the Cavs with 27 points and nine assists. He turned the ball over five times on Wednesday, 13 in the last two nights. It was his first appearance in a back-to-back since he's returned from his sprained shoulder.

"He looked a little tired in the first half," Scott said. "He picked it up in the second half."

Irving said all players are fatigued at this time of the year.

"That's no excuse for not executing on both ends of the floor," he said.

Thompson contributed 19 points and eight rebounds, while guard Dion Waiters added 11 points and three rebounds in his first game since March 20.

"I thought (Waiters) was OK," Scott said. "(He was) nothing special. The plan was to get him 15-20 minutes."

Scott said he doesn't know if Waiters will start on Friday vs. New York. Waiters wasn't available for comment after the game.

Pistons guard Will Bynum was particularly lethal in the fourth quarter with 12 of his 16 points. Stuckey added 18 points and seven assists.